Determing fire losses 'not a perfect science'

Fire departments estimate damages, but true values are set by insurance companies

Mar. 2, 2013

Grand Chute firefighters on the scene of a house fire at 2918 W. Parkridge Ave. destroyed a garage, car and attic Jan. 7 in Grand Chute. Firefighters from Greenville, Town of Menasha and Appleton also responded. / Wm. Glasheen/The Post-Crescent

Written by

Kyle Daly

Post-Crescent Media

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Not all fire departments keep track of property loss — an estimate of the damage incurred when a person’s car, house or belongings go up in flames.

Vernon Green, assistant chief of Neenah-Menasha Fire Rescue, said it’s not a firefighter’s job to adjust claims and pay losses. That’s the work of insurance companies.

Local fire departments record estimates by taking the value of the property and subtracting the square footage of the damaged area.

“It’s not a perfect science,” Green said.

Lt. Christopher Fischer of the Appleton Fire Department said the department’s estimate of “content loss” — items burned up within or on a property — is a “guessing game.” The true property loss values are set by the insurance companies.

But when fire departments make estimates, it provides insight into the extremity of the fires they face.

The numbers show a five-year low in property loss, along with $331,510 in content damage. Firefighters battled 129 fires during the year, most caused by unattended cooking. That was just a slight jump from the 2011 number of 120 fires. From 2003 to 2011, the department averaged 140 fires.

The highest year for property loss was 2009, with an estimate of $1,801,655, along with $395,102 in content loss. Fischer said one incident helped boost those numbers: A facility with a property value of about $150 million.

The fire department has no benchmarks or goals when it comes property loss numbers.

Fischer said having no fires would be ideal.

“We don’t want any fire loss,” he said.

The department strives to respond to an emergency in four minutes or less, 90 percent of the time. But when it comes to fires, preventing property loss begins with preventing the fire in the first place — an effort that includes informing the community about fire prevention techniques and inspections.

It was predicted fire losses would increase in the midst of tough economic times, said Fire Chief Timothy Bantes. He said businesses tend to spend less money on maintenance during such periods, making the possibility of fires increase.

“Without a doubt, that has an effect on fire losses,” Bantes said.

The department responded to 52 fires in 2012, the same as in 2011. But the 2011 total loss estimate was much higher at more than $1.1 million.

That year, the fire department was on track for a record low loss of property due to fires, but one incident caused the record to go up in flames. A Pierce Manufacturing fire truck — worth about $1 million — caught fire near McCarthy Road and Capitol Drive during a test drive.